Tommy didn't get it, and he wasn't used to it. And much as he wanted to burrow against David's side for contact, David wasn't the right person and it wasn't gonna help.

And then the portal was ... warm and welcoming. Loving. But cloying and clinging too, and it was too much contact. Again. And then once more when some girl he didn't know was touching him and Tommy just overloaded. He bolted away out of reach, eyes too wide and too wild, panic all over his face.

He realized he'd done it and that he must be just still moving when everyone else stayed frozen and he made a conscious effort to calm down and hold still as everything else came back into focus. Christ. He was so fucked up. He was back on Earth, with a friend, about to see his brother ... and all he wanted in this moment was a familiar colorless room, his bed, and Teddy. Everything else felt like too much and every touch felt like the wrong touch, and just reminded him he was screwed up and alone and had fucked over his brother and everyone else without meaning to.

"Sorry," he mumbled, arms hugging around himself. "I'll uh ... Billy can do it. If he wants. If not, she can later?" he tried to offer, not quite looking David in the eye.